I received my copies of the Mercer Songbook and Le Bing in the mail yesterday, along with the AFRS Sepia CD that Wig sent me, and spent the whole afternoon and evening listening to them. Then I wrote a review of the Mercer disc, which I published this morning on the U.S. Amazon website. If you're interested, you can read it here:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R8LIHACQYZ6PE/ref=cm_cr_dp_title?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00EEPFMJ6&channel=detail-glance&nodeID=5174&store=music

My 2 cd's arrived! I will have to listen to them tomorrow night. It is very late now. I'll get back to you!

Received the Mercer CD Friday. The others - Le Bing, BIng and Rosie arrived a couple of days previously. All from Collector's Choice at $9.98 each. Now to play same.

My copy of "Le Bing" is on the way to me.  Should arrive in another day or two or three.  Thrilling suspense!!!!

Can you imagine how many people who think they know something about Bing Crosby, have never had any idea that his first LP album was sung all in French?  I don't know French, but since I have known the album, I have considered it lovely. I suppose it might go against the grain of certain Americans to think of Bing Crosby as a musical Francophile.  Well, that's just a darned shame for them.

The reports from those who've listened to the Mercer CD are making it sound very appealing.

Last edited by Steve Fay (07/11/2013 10:01 pm)

I have been listening to Le Bing lately. I think I am enjoying it more this second time through, after having first heard it on the Through the Years series.

Steve, what you commented on above has me intrigued as well. On the recordings of "Mon Coeur est un Violon" and "La Seine" which include studio chatter (tracks 19, 21 and 22), there is definitely a voice speaking in a mix of French and English with a French accent giving instructions to the band. These tracks were supposed to have been recorded in Palm Springs, CA in Feb 1953, prior to the album being recorded in France. If that is the case, could it be that Paul Durand came over from France to rehearse with Bing, and perhaps work on the arrangements with Trotter prior to the album being recorded?

Richard,

I considered a language coach, but as you say, that wouldn't entail instructions to the orchestra. I'm also doubtful that it's Trotter, since much of it is English with a French accent, along with some French. I don't know French, but it sounds like a native speaker to me.

On "La Seine", track 21, at the beginning, after Bing says, "Let's go, once more from the top, this will be all the music for tonight." The voice says, "Ok. Ok, here we go." and then "Top, top, top, top, introduction, shhh. The trombones <something in French>." I also hear the voice after the breakdown, but just a few words, "eh, eh, eh" and "at the pickup, <someone's name?>", a second French voice responds "oui, oui".

On "Mon Coeur est un Violon", track 19, I also hear the voice, but just a word here and there. What may be that voice asks "rolling?", and what sounds like the same second French voice responds "oui." (Perhaps Durand brought an assistant with him to help in the control room).

In Malcolm's liner notes on "Le Bing" in "Through the Years Volume 5", he says that "During his radio show broadcast on June 4, 1953, Bing is about to sing "All My Love" and says that Mr. Durand is in the studio and hopes he will approve the English lyrics that had been added to the song. No doubt the dialogue was recorded specially in Paris while Bing was recording with Durand."

But according to the BCE "Le Bing" notes these radio shows were pre-recorded in Palm Springs before he left for France. It then seems doubtful Bing would have bothered to specially record dialogue in France to add to them. But perhaps Paul Durand was in the studio because he had flown out to California to rehearse. 

To me it seems very plausible that a well known French conductor, chosen to provide the accompaniment for Bing Crosby's first LP, and perhaps knowing he would have very limited time (1 day?!) to work with Bing in France, would have been flown over to work on the arrangements with Trotter, and rehearse and assist with the radio show recordings with Bing, so he could hear how Bing sounded singing the arrangements. Clearly at least some of the arrangements had already been written by Feb, 1953 when the radio show recordings were made in Palm Springs.

Perhaps the studio logs or Bing's archives could provide a definitive answer.

I wish I knew the answer to this interesting conundrum.

Some possibilities have been suggested. I'm inclined to think that Jim is probably correct, but it might also be possible that the date shown in the notes is in error and that the takes are in fact from the Paris sessions. 

We will possibly never know but it is interesting to speculate about possibilities.